The Police Return to De Do Do Do Verizon...

November 05, 2007

"Welcome to the Andy Summers show!" howled Sting, ageless, serene and in perfect (if lower) voice at Verizon Center Monday night, as he altered the original 'So Lonely' lyric ("Welcome to this one man show") to salute the Police's prodigious guitarist. Now a determined egalitarian, Sting did the same for percussionist Stewart Copeland on a subsequent verse.

Ex-schoolteacher Gordon Sumner's newfound magnanimity is the major difference between the Police circa 1984 and the Police in 2007. Sting is willing, nay, eager to cede the spotlight to his two mates, granting the 64-year-old Summers, in particular, License to Shred in a way he never did during the Reagan era.

Fortunately, Summers is not just a brilliant ax man but a disciplined minimalist, never allowing the crunchy, angular fills he contributed to 'When the World Is Running Down' or 'Driven to Tears' more sonic real estate than necessary to achieve maximum yield. And while Sting did what little talking there was in the 100-minute show, Summers appeared to call the shots, bringing 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da' to a halt with a two-handed "cut" sign just as it threatened to congeal into Christopher Cross territory.

Copeland, too, was agreeably unleashed, leaping between a drum kit and a sort of cage made of seemingly every device ever designed to make a melodic sound when struck with a blunt object, and tossing his sticks (or mallets) over both shoulders every time he bolted between stations. 'Walking in Your Footsteps' was Copeland's spooky tour de force, though you wondered why Sting kept inviting the audience to mess with his dense polyrhythms by clapping. Copeland didn't seem to mind - he looked like he was having more fun than anyone. And since this tour is clearly a nostalgia trip, why not?

The set list was a rewind of their headlining Virgin Festival appearance in August, save for the addition of 'Hole in My Life' and 'Truth Hits Everybody', a harsh two-fer that kept the looming mellow at bay.

RECENT STORIES

Actually Roxanne, I like the red light: Sting is a rock icon who wants to save the rainforest. But how does he square his green credentials with his seven homes? Taking a break at the one in Malibu during his world tour with the reformed Police he talks about lyrics, politics and the cook who took him to court. You can take the man out of Newcastle but you can't, in this case, take Newcastle out of the man. Gordon Sumner - nicknamed Sting by his Geordie mates because of his adolescent fondness for yellow and black stripy jumpers - is resting up in his Malibu oceanfront house. In a few days he will fly to New York where his recently reunited band, the Police, will soon start the second leg of their box-office-busting American tour...Sting is pining for the grey skies of Blighty - "Whenever I'm away from home for any length of time I really miss the rain." Cool customer that he is, he's been none too impressed either with the panicked reaction of Alist neighbours such as Tom Cruise and Pamela Anderson to the Californian bush fires. "A few cars caught fire on the Pacific highway after the wind brought down some power lines. But the main danger to people around here was that they were running out of champagne.